SOUTH SIDE Parks panel weighs playground request

The park board asked the group to submit a detailed list of fixes. By ROGER G. SMITH CITY HALL REPORTER YOUNGSTOWN -- The city park and recreation commission will consider a group's request to improve a South Side playground. About 20 members of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods appeared before the commission Thursday, said Joseph McRae, city parks director. The group complained earlier this month about the condition of a playground next to Cleveland School on Glenwood Avenue in the Fosterville area. It said the playground has broken glass, cracked equipment and vandalized tennis and basketball courts. The park board asked the group to submit a detailed list of repairs, McRae said. He added that ACTION said it would do that within about two weeks. Money for any repairs would need to come from city council, McRae said. Land swap The park board also assured a different South Side group it would swap city property for private property the group is assembling for a playground. St. Patrick Church, Summit Academy and the Needle's Eye Christian Counseling Center are acquiring land at Kenmore and Oak Hill avenues. The city would receive the newly cleared land and erect a playground for the neighborhood's use. Across the intersection, the city would turn over the rarely used Ken-Oak playground to St. Patrick. The old playground would become a parking lot for the church, school and counseling center. The park board said the land swap would happen once the group controls all the property, McRae said. Some of the property remains tied up in back taxes. Eagle Heights fees The park board also increased the fee for Eagle Heights Academy to use the city-owned South field house for gym classes. The annual charge will rise to $23,000, a $3,000 increase. The increase is to cover rising utility costs, McRae said. Eagle Heights will continue paying the city per event for using the field house for its sports programs. Those charges haven't been increased. rgsmith@vindy.com